Snowed In

We are SNOWED IN in Iowa right now!!!

We woke up to a winter wonderland. The snow hasn't stopped coming down, and the wind is FIERCE! It blows the snow all over the place, and there was a huge drift right outside of Grandma's door that made it hard to stomp our way inside!!!

It is currently 3 degrees... don't even want to know what that is with the wind chill!!! The roads are frozen solid. Our plan was to leave tomorrow, but we're not sure how good of an idea that will be. We'll have to see what everything looks like when we get up in the morning. :)

Hope everyone is warm and safe and cozy tonight. I never get tired of the snow. I like that you really can't go anywhere. I always wanted to know that feeling in Tennessee, but I never got it until I moved to Boston... and then acquired a family from Iowa! :)

Peace. Love. and Snowy Fiddles.
~natalie

My Mouth Is Hungry But My Stomach Is Full

I love how different each day can be on the road. :) The last 2 nights, we were in a hotel that had a bit of a stank, the view was a parking lot littered with old mattresses, the curtains were falling off the walls...

Tonight? I am laying in a King size bed surrounded by a mountain of comfy pillows, the complimentary products in the bathroom are Aveda - my fav that's too expensive to buy - and the view is part of the NYC skyline (right past the Newark airport). The guys are in the bar downstairs having a beer after a nice leisurely 10 hour drive.

Playing in the Suburban today:
The end of "Yes Man"
"The Departed" (That was fun to visit parts of Boston - including Costello Liquors right next to Berklee's campus)
"Role Models"
"Nick and Norah's Playlist" (With a nice reference of Berklee in that movie - Michael Cera's character wants to go to school there!)
And "Half Baked"

And with my mobile internet working again, I got some major facebooking and emailing done. Whew. That felt good. Still backed up, but getting closer.

Tomorrow - we play for the Coast Guard on Staten Island! WOO HOO!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Nascar, Baseball, and Stovall

Fiddler On The Quad

You know something that is funny? Sitting in traffic for the George Washington Bridge seems normal. :) And I don't live in New York. But we have passed through both Boston and New York so many times recently... 4 times in the last week alone... it all just feels like home. Being on the road sure does make the world seem smaller. I used to feel like Boston was so far away when I went to school there. Now... it just seems like a hop, skip, and a jump from Tennessee!

I drove most of the day today. Today's showings in the Suburban included Season 1 of 30 Rock, Dr. Laura, Top Gun, and Pineapple Express.

One of the weirder things happened while we were sitting in traffic for the George Washington Bridge... On 30 Rock, Liz Lemon had the radio on in the background and they were talking about the heavy traffic on the George Washington Bridge... for a brief moment, my brain was unbelievably confused. I KNEW I was listening to the DVD player, but thought maybe I was simultaneously listening to the radio? But I got that all figured out pretty quickly. :)

I hadn't gotten a chance to see the poster they put up on the wall at Rhode Island College. But they gave it to us as we were leaving, so we brought it in tonight to look at it. I had to hold it up because it was bigger than the bed!!!



Close-up, it almost looks like a water color of me :) And I love that the headline is "Fiddler On The Quad".

They had it up in the main dining hall and it was next to another giant poster for the school's "annual drag show" :) I thought that was pretty awesome.

We only have a couple hours to go for the drive tomorrow. This is the route we are taking:

View Larger Map

So tomorrow we get to go on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge!!! It's a 20 mile long bridge with a 1-mile long tunnel in the middle.
I am pretty excited about that!


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Maine Maritime Academy

Wooo Hoo!!! Maine Maritime Academy :)

1st of all - GORGEOUS up here. Wish we could stay...

2nd - they know how to put on a show!

The kids from NESCOM that we worked with at Husson University were running sound again. :) It was so good to see them! When we were loading our stuff up onto the stage, they were playing music through the giant speakers... and all of a sudden... I hear US! They had a live recording of the show from Husson :) It was so fun.


Meg Allison was hosting the show. We played with her last year at Virginia Wesleyan (which we're playing again on Friday). Meg was on Nashville Star and she is fantastic! She is an incredible songwriter and singer. I was excited to hear her play live again. We had her cd in heavy rotation in the Suburban last year! To listen to her music click here: Meg Allsion
This was us backstage during Hot Day at the Zoo's set.


Hot Day at the Zoo is a bluegrass band from Boston. They were all great players. They had a fun, high energy set. If you are a bluegrass fan, you should definitely check them out! Hot Day At The Zoo



This was a very professionally run show. I was extremely impressed with the students and their attention to detail. The catering was fantastic! Yummm.... I wish I had more right now.

Right after this picture was taken, one of the students pushed Miguel around on that wheelie thingy... :)

Nate was our escort around campus. He REALLY took care of us!!! THANK YOU NATE!



This was my front row man! He was right up front and sang along and played air fiddle and guitar with us all night! I LOVED him! And everyone applauded when I hugged him after the show. AWESOME.



Hank's mom came!!! One of our really good friends, Henry, went to school with James and me at Berklee. I haven't seen enough of that guy over the past few years. But his mom came to the show!! And she's a drummer. How awesome is that?!!?! Awww man... and I just realized that in the shuffle I didn't get a picture with her :( BUT let me tell you more about Hank. He's in a band called Apache Stone that is based out of New York. I really love their music. Their lead singer is in the show Rescue Me with Denis Leary which is just a cool little fact.




My new friend Wade. I LOVED his shirt!



These 3 were at our Husson show. They had a copy of that show and said they jammed out to it the whole way to Castine today! :) And they had me sign it. SO cool. Rachael, Rachael, and Jake!



They had on-campus housing for us! It reminded me of staying on an army base. It had the same vibe to the room that bases usually do. They gave us keys to 6 different rooms and told us to take our pick! Not gonna lie... that was pretty cool. The rooms were great this afternoon to get ready in... but we don't get to enjoy them tonight. :( We play in Providence tomorrow at noon, and we have to load in by 10am.... so tonight is an all-night drive. We are an hour into the drive and watching 30 Rock :) it's about 2am already.... James is a champion!!! But luckily, we havent' had to do too many of these lately. So it isn't nearly as difficult as when there are LOTS of overnight drives!

We'll have time to sleep tomorrow after the show :) We thankfully we have the day off Thursday to drive to Norfolk.

Happy Tax Day!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

SMRT

Sleep Deprivation + Using My Husband's Computer to work = bad idea.

I feel blonder than normal at the moment... Like not my natural color blonde... more like bleached white....

I was trying to be all productive just now... feeling really good about all the work I've gotten done today. (Man. It's amazing what you can get done when you wake up EARLY).

This evening I accidentally discovered facebook chat. It's just like ichat or aim but, it's within facebook so it shows you all of your friends that are logged in. That was fun to discover. :) I talked to friends I have made from schools all over the country. It was pretty cool. It inspired me to do a little extra promotion for my Virginia Wesleyan show on Friday.

Hmmm.... But my computer was dying... so I stole... I mean, borrowed James'. Amazingly, he wasn't on it. That poker on the iphone... had him cornered! So in my laziness, instead of getting up to dig out my charger and find an outlet... I just picked up my husband's.

This is where it all went downhill. I had started inviting people to the show about a week ago when we were in Boston. And when I picked up James' computer, he was already logged into facebook.... but I didn't really THINK about the fact that I was in HIS account. Not my own. Soooo I mosey on over to the event for the show and start inviting more "maybe attendings". (We played this show last year. It was so fun and I am REALLY excited to go back) I kept thinking people looked familiar, but I figured I recognized them from last year. I knew my account would tell me if I had already sent them a message.

Riiiight. I HAD sent them messages. But James hadn't!

So not only does "Natalie Stovall" look suspiciously like a dude who plays the drums.... I invited some of them TWICE. Once from MY profile... once from James'.

Good one Nat.

So anyone who is thoroughly confused when they go into their facebook profiles tonight... I apologize. I was only excited and trying to let you know about the show. And though my husband REALLY wants you to come to the show, too.... he would prefer that I stop impersonating him while using my name to invite people.


Other than that? GREAT Day. We got Hoot Back. Jenn and Ella made it back home to Nashville safely, and we are already in Maine. We aren't too far away from our destination, so we won't have to drive too far tomorrow.

But judging by the recent events... I should probably work on that whole "going to bed thing" before I post a blog in all Chilean slang or something.

Wait. But that would be pretty cool... I WANT that to happen. Miguel? Go in and translate all of this to make me look cool. Ok? Thanks. I mean Gracias.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Feature on Today'sCountryMusicVideos.com

Pretty Exciting stuff!

www.TodaysCountryMusicVideos.com

Thank you so much!!! That was another really fun alert to wake up to :)

Today was definitely a day of rest and thankfulness. It was a beautiful (and a bit chilly) Easter Sunday in New York City. I woke up this morning to a Brunch complete with a chocolate bunny by my plate.

Tomorrow... we leave NYC, drop off Jenn and Ella in Philly, pick up Hootie in Boston, and head to Maine. :)

Peace, Love, Fiddle
~natalie

Chacareros

I AM SO FULL OF AWESOME CHILEAN FOOD RIGHT NOW.


So... for 2 1/2 whole years now... Miguel has talked about empanadas and other traditional Chilean food and how good it is. We have tried to find Chilean restaurants before.... but always had to settle for Cuban or something similar. When we were in Miami - he found some empanadas... While they were really good, he said they weren't quite like the ones from home.

Yesterday he found a restaurant in downtown Boston and went there with his friend Jorge - that is at school at Berklee right now :) And then we all went today.

Dear Lord Baby Jesus.

It was sooooo good. The place is called Chacereros (I have said that word over and over because it is so fun to say. Try it. You'll smile) - it's a Chilean Sandwich. They put green beans on these sandwiches!!! And it is REALLY good.

Here's the website with a great video all about the sandwiches:
Chacareros

And HERE'S the Empanadas. AKA a plate of euphoria for Miguel.


Moral of the story? If you EVER find an authentic Chilean restaurant:
1. Call us and tell us where it is
2. GO EAT Empanadas AND Chacareros!!!

But don't unknowingly illegally park like we did and get a ticket :( It was worth it though!!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle. And a Full Belly of Chilean Goodness.

~natalie

New Songs

We rehearsed new songs today!!!

Something about staying at Paul's :) It gives us a chance to work on new material. We rehearsed the song I wrote with Pat McLaughlin "Step By Step" and another new one that I wrote with Charlie Hutto "The Sound of Goodbye". Y'all already know how I feel about "Step By Step."

But "Sound of Goodbye"? I am SO excited. I have always wanted a song that sounds like this one. It gives me a chance to be a little more sassy... which I dig... a lot. So yeah. I am pumped to start playing these live. We'll see how the response is to them. But I have a really good feeling. As long as you guys like them, too, then I think we may have enough songs to book the next recording session!!! We're FINALLY gonna get to record a new album. I can't TELL you how good that feels.
People have been asking me about a new one since the day the first one was released. :)

The last few days have been packed. And I can't get over the response we had from the Josh Gracin show. My facebook and myspace pages have been overrun with pics and uploads from that show. I can barely keep up with responding to the comments and requests! (Which is a GOOD thing) I love it!!! Everything just seems to be on a new level lately. And it is so fun to see the progress we're making! :)

It sure makes watching the ACM's fun. :) James, Paul, and I were sitting in the floor putting together packages for military bases and colleges that requested them... It's a LOT of fun to work on booking gigs while I watch an awards show that I dream about being a part of. Makes me feel like I am physically doing everything I can to get there!

And CONGRATULATIONS to Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift, and Scott Borchetta for Album of the Year!!!! I can't believe one of my co-writers just won ALBUM OF THE FREAKIN YEAR! Amazing.

Tomorrow? I'm getting a nutella smoothie at The Wrap!

Peace. Love. Fiddle. YA'LL!
~natalie

Cafe 939

These days a lot of places feel like home...

The Suburban

Hotels

Toll Roads

My manager's house

Waking up in strange places is one of the most consistent things in my life right now :)

But there's something so unbelievably nostalgic about walking up and down the streets of Boston. We were walking back to the car tonight at about 2am. We were around the Berklee neighborhood. And there were TONS of people on the streets. I had forgotten how packed the streets are on a Saturday night. Everyone is out. And most everyone is college age. And it felt like home.

And even though I had never played in this venue before tonight, nor did it even exist when I went to school there - it felt so normal. The place was packed. But the weirdest part about the show was the fact that everyone sat on the floor. That was a first for me. It kinda felt like a really rocked out story-time. :)

It was Cafe 939's birthday so they were having a big bash. The first act was Liz Longley and her band. And WOW. She was unbelievable. Seriously. Her songs. Her voice. Her writing. Her band. Her arrangements. All Fantastic.
And then we went on, did our thing and had a blast as usual.
And then Gina Cimmelli went on after us. I didn't really get to hear much of her because I was talking to everyone who came to my show and thanking them all. She was adorable and the one song I did hear was her "happy" song and she totally played a kazoo solo. It reminded me of the Popeye song "He Need's Me" - which my roommates performed at a 'Love is Deaf' Valentine's Day concert... so I have heard it a lot recently.... while they were practicing.. :)

Here's Liz and her band:



These girls were at our show at the Matterhorn. And they told me they wore their scarves for me!!! YAY!!!



This couple was so sweet. They sat right in front and I figured they were Berklee students. They both look like musicians to me :) But I found out after the show that they are just country fans. She saw my add on facebook for the show and they decided to come! We recently tried buying adds for a few of the shows... and we have been curious to see if they work. And they totally DO!!!! Also.... he goes to the Harvard Business School. I just met some guys at the Matterhorn who go to the Harvard Business School. I still had the pics in my camera so I showed them to him - he totally knew them!!! How funny is that? Wow.


Kristen and Sadie!!!
Kristen and I met a few years ago but she has never gotten to come to a show. It was SOOOO good to see her. And she had ordered a cd online the day I released it. So she brought it to the show and I signed it for her. I hadn't seen one of the original cds in a LONG time!!! So cool!!!


And then we got to go hang out afterwards with Jorge and Valentina!!! Jorge is one of Miguel's friends from Chile who is currently going to Berklee. And Valentina, his girlfriend is probably one of the sweetest people alive. We always have so much fun with them!


And then... 1:30am on a Saturday night at Berklee???? SUPREME'S!!!!!! Just like old times :) I went and got my steak and cheese with mushrooms.... James got his spaghetti with meatballs... College all over again....

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Opening for Josh Gracin!!!

Our very first college show 2 years ago was in Elmira, New York, and it was an opening slot for Josh Gracin. After touring colleges and universities pretty solid ever since.... we were asked to open for him again. This time at Mansfield University in PA - only 45 miles south of Elmira. How crazy is that?!?

The show tonight? AMAZING. It flew by. The audience was packed. People were screaming uncontrollably. I felt like I was a headliner in my own little 30 minute opening slot. (which is SUCH a quick set for us!)
You want to know the craziest part? Not only did I FEEL like it was an incredible show... but I spent more time at the merch table than I ever have before. It was a solid line the whole time. How long? 2 hrs and 39 mins. WHAT!?!?!?! I could not believe how amazing these people were. I went to the table to start signing autographs and take pics after my set. I missed Josh's ENTIRE set... plus stayed until they were hauling sound equipment off the stage. But I promised to get to EVERYONE. And I did!!! It was SO FREAKIN AWESOME. I was overwhelmed by the enormity of the response to our set. People were so kind, when I was just happy for the opportunity.

And OH the food. The food was astounding. NOT ONLY did we have plums from Chile in our dressing room (which made one Chilean guitar player in my band very happy) but the salmon and the couscous. Perfection!!

We had LOTS of protection tonight :) (And good-looking protection I might add!)




I had an interview for tv and 2 newpapers before the show. :) Here's all the interviewers:




These girls asked me to sign their biology notes.


I must have looked at them a little funny because THEN they explained. They told me that they came to the show instead of studying for their exam.... I hope they do well on their exam because if they don't I would feel HORRIBLE. (I couldn't even pronounce the study points next to where I signed)


I signed a bunch of normal stuff tonight - you know - hats, t-shirts, ticket stubs. But this was the first time I ever signed cowgirl boots!!! And BOTH girls had me sign their boots. Adorable.


These ladies were at the Elmira show, too!!! We were all really excited about that.


SO I could go on and on and on with stories of everyone I met at the merch table. But I need to sleep in a bad way, so I am gonna move on to the after party. Everyone was going to a bar down the road called Changos. I was exhausted but I really wanted to hang out. Plus, I felt horrible - I never got to even see Josh or thank him for having us as an opener. Well... Josh and his guys were all going, too. And Josh had told Miguel the same thing - he felt bad that we didn't get to talk.

So we headed to Changos


When we walked in, 2 guys were singing and playing acoustic guitars ("Don't Stop Believing" I might add). As we walked into the bar - they announced "Natalie Stovall has entered the bar" and Oh MY, Y'all. The whole place started cheering! Talk about making a girl feel good!!! And then the first girl I saw was ALREADY wearing the Peace, Love, Fiddle tee she had JUST bought!!!


A few minutes later Josh walked in. And we FINALLY got to talk!!!! I think he's my new BFF. :) (Don't worry Farm Boy... no one will ever be my FFBF but you.... there's a BIG difference) He is really a great guy. He puts on a heck of a show and he was so great to talk to. We bonded over the industry and the business and just making things work. He was incredibly sweet about my band. So yeah. I love Josh Gracin. We all do. Actually, Miguel and James are downstairs in the lobby with Josh and his band right now... they weren't ready for the party to stop!!!


We had a rough time leaving. But I knew I needed to go.... we have another 7 hour drive to Boston tomorrow and it's another big day. I'm singing the anthem for the Celtics. And even though it is only one song - it is one HARD song to sing. My voice is pretty swollen just from all the non-stop talking, interviewing, and show-puttin tonight. (I WOULDN"T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY!) But I knew I needed to go. It's almost 4am right now... normal... but sucks when you have to get up at 7.... AGAIN.

We all tried to leave about 17 times. This was what happened when I was trying to leave.


Since that didn't work so well... James had to take matters into his own hands.



Good times. Although.... I am still not sure how Josh beat us back to the hotel. He was still inside when we left??? But he was inside the hotel when we got here. Hmmmm... He's magic.

This was even more than I hoped it would be. I had an overwhelming amount of friend requests on facebook when I opened up my laptop. What a great feeling. We're moving on up, ya'll. And it is all thanks to YOU. So THANK YOU for letting me get to do what I do. I will forever be grateful. And I will always stay until the last autograph is signed.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Husson University: Bangor, Maine

Favorite conversation from the car today:

I was driving and I asked if anyone else was hungry or ready to eat.

James: "Sure, I could eat"

Miguel: "Oh yeah, I could eat"

Hootie: "I have a mouth"

Yup. That's Hoot. :)

Last night when we got back from our very short venture into Boston (I had just enough time to get a Nutella Smoothie.... really my only request when we get into the city), there were two little girls waiting on a "concert". :) We were staying at Paul's house (my manager) for a couple nights in Newton. And his sweet little girl Gracie and her friend, Madison, who is VERY musical, were wanting a show! We were all set up in the living room from rehearsing the night before and earlier that afternoon. So really, it was a great opportunity for us to run through our new songs with an audience! It was perfect. :) Gracie and Madison both grabbed some guitars (I believe Madison brought her own) and "jammed" with us!



Today we drove to Bangor, Maine. I had some friends from Bangor at Berklee, but I have never ventured that high up into Maine until today! As soon as we crossed over the border into Maine, something seemed to change. It felt like I stepped into a painting of every New England winter scene I have ever seen. The rivers and ponds are completely frozen with the rocks covered in snow and ice. And the landscape is so distinct. It's just beautiful. I really am getting to see a lot of snow on this trip!!!

Husson University was a huge success tonight. Our show was packed with a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience. And I think we had the largest sound crew we've ever had!!! It was actually a class of students from NESCOM (New England School of Communications) and they picked our show as one of their projects to run. My attention was immediately caught by the mic on my stand. They had a Neumann KMS 104 on it!!! Ok. I know that is probably gibberish to most of you, but that is a REALLY REALLY nice live microphone!!! And I have NEVER played a show where they have supplied Neumann's! I have one myself, but I have never used someone else's before. Crazy. And the board they had - they purchased after it had been used in the Beijing Olympics. So yeah we got spoiled rotten with equipment tonight. The students did a great job, too. They were each taking turns riding the faders during the show. And I believe they are sending us a recording of the show as well. We've been on a streak of the sound guys recording our shows for us lately! It's really great "tape" for us to listen to... Kind-of like watching "tape" in football.... it's good studying for us!

Here's our Largest Sound Crew EVER.


Becca Loebe and Jenn Grinels came to our show!!! Becca went to Berklee and we have been running into each other on the college circuit randomly for the last few years. She is one of the sweetest and most genuine girls in the world. And she is a fantastic folk singer. So heartfelt. And Jenn. Wow. Tonight was the first time I ever met her, but I really want to see her live now, too. Her music is SO great on her myspace page.
Becca and Jenn both played an afternoon show at Husson, and then they went to the University of Maine to play a show tonight. THEN they drove all the way back to Husson to catch the end of our show. Such sweethearts!!
Go check out Becca:
http://www.myspace.com/rebeccaloebe '
And Jenn:
www.myspace.com/jenngrinels




After we talked for a little while, Becca said "Oh! I have a present for you, Natalie! I was looking at you onstage and thought - 'she just doesn't look like she belongs here'" (You know, southern girl up in Maine). So she gave me some hand warmers to keep me all warm and cozy in the Northeastern Frigidness. I'm just glad I wasn't here when it was -45 a few weeks ago!

The top one is in English and the bottom one is in spanish - so I guess the top hand-warmer is mine and the bottom one is Miguel's :)

Greg!!! He was the man in charge tonight who took VERY VERY good care of us. Plus, he had on an Anchorman shirt which made me want to be friends with him immediately.


Courtney!!! She was our contact at the school. She was SO sweet from the beginning. She gave us directions all day, helped me take pics at the merch booth, and stayed until the very last piece of equipment was loaded. And yeah. She has a nursing exam in the morning. We didn't get out of there until after midnight. Courtney's a champion!


These girls grabbed their front row seats well before sound check. They were right up front all night, singing along and making me feel so great!


Let's just say... I felt pretty safe at this show


These girls were CRACKING me up. Rachael, on the far left, came up to the table and said "Ok, we've scrounged enough money together to buy a cd" She had coins and dollars and it was adorable. So all 4 of them were sharing the one cd. I love it!


They made such cute shirts for this event, too. It was the big concert in the middle of their "Winter Week". I love when we get t-shirts at schools. It's such a great way to remember where we played. And I REALLY like it when they put us ON the t-shirt. Although, James and I have been "matching" a little too often lately. :)~ We never mean to, but we keep wearing the same shirts for bed. If you saw how much we have on the same outfits, I am not sure whether you'd find it endearing or creepy. We can't decide, either.



You know what is so cool? Before I even got back to the hotel - there were already pics of the show uploaded to facebook from people who were there tonight. I love the internet. It really blows my mind!
I have to thank Cam Smith for providing this next photo!



And I have to thank everyone who came out tonight. The show was packed and it was a very appreciative audience. They even got us to do an encore!!! It was so much fun! I made everyone get out of their seats for the encore, though. There is NO WAY you can sit down for Journey! :)

Thanks for EVERYTHING tonight Husson! I hope to do it again sometime!!!

Peace, love, fiddle and yee haw!

~natalie

Snowballing

Miguel and both shoveled snow for the first time ever today. I know I risk many people hating me for saying this..... and I am FULLY aware that I would NOT feel this way if I HAD to shovel all the time - but as a first timer - it was fun! :)
I kept looking for more places to melt a little more - we got down to just ice and they couldn't chip it fast enough for me. Miguel had never shoveled either. Paul loved us :)



It's so good to have a day when we didn't HAVE to be somewhere. I was more exhausted when I woke up this morning than I have been in a while... it hasn't helped me to go to bed any earlier than normal... considering it is 3:00am right now. But it's nice to not have to curl my tremendous amounts of hair or put on full make-up :) We've gone pretty non-stop since we left Nashville, though. I mean, there hasn't been ANY downtime until today. It was all driving as much as possible, sleep as much as we can before we get up and drive as much as possible again to get to the next destination. We definitely don't get paid for the shows!!!! We get paid for driving to and from and loading and unloading!!! THAT's the "work" part. The performing is the relief.

I can't wait to have a ginormous stage, eh emm.... like the GRAMMYS. :) I just get so inspired when I watch shows like that. It feels so close. And in all reality - that's just "a song" away. It's amazing how that 1 magical song can launch an entire career and make millions of people pay attention to what you have been doing all along. I mean look at Taylor Swift and all that she has accomplished in the last couple of years!!! And it started with an incredible song. But the girl has the songs to back it up and the personality to carry her through a career for the rest of her life!

I have so much going on in my head right now. It kinda feels like I have a ton of creativity balling up inside me like a big giant star that's about to just come BLAZING out. And I have to attribute much of that to YOU. Yes, YOU who is reading this right now. :) There has been this unbelievable energy around my shows lately and the blogs and the myspace, facebook, and twitter sites. Everything feels like it is snowballing. There was a while that I felt like I was at a bit of a standstill. I guess it was adjusting to the inns and outs of touring and building the business side. There's been a lot to learn and I am aware that I will never stop learning. But now it has all come full circle. The creativity is BACK. And it's just a stewing and seasoning right now. :) I'm guess I'm having to let it simmer in my brain a bit before I am ready to share it with everyone else.

With that said... I am ready to let it simmer while I slumber.

night night!

~nat